South Pittsburg, Tenn. – Western Carolina men's golf claimed the team event trophy on Tuesday afternoon at the Sweetens Cove Intercollegiate, finishing off Belmont in the resumption of the semifinal match before downing High Point in an abbreviated nine-hole championship match to earn the hardware.

Advancing to the quarterfinals with a 4.5-to-1.5 win over Bowling Green in the quarterfinals, WCU punched its ticket into the championship match with a 4-2 win over the Belmont Bruins in a pairing that started Monday and finished on Tuesday afternoon. With weather hampering play over the two days in southeastern Tennessee, WCU and High Point met in the battle of unbeatens to determine who received the trophy in a nine-hole shootout with the Catamounts winning, 4-2. 

Both WCU and High Point were officially declared co-champions after going 2-0 through the two fully-contested, 18-hole matches with the Catamounts claiming the nine-hole tie-breaker.
 
The tournament win was WCU's first since winning the EKU Intercollegiate in Sept. 2021. It represented the fourth Top Five finish for the Catamounts this season with a third podium finish.
 
Four of the six Catamounts earned victories over their Panther counterparts in securing the team trophy for the Purple & Gold. Freshman Andrew Korytoski ended his matchup early, 3UP through eight of the slated nine holes. The remaining three WCU wins came by a score of 1UP through nine holes with redshirt senior Pablo Hernandez, sophomore Ivan Ninkovic, and freshman Jace Butcher securing the championship.
 
Butcher and Korytoski both carded three birdies in winning their respective matches with Ninkovic collecting two.
 
Fifth-year senior Magnus Pedersen won three holes before falling by a count of down one after nine holes, while freshman Michael Bevins went up early by winning the first hole before dropping the next five to fall by four with three holes remaining.
 
In WCU's semifinal match, three Catamounts claimed their respective battles in advancing to the final pairing. Pedersen took a four-stroke lead with three holes to play for the 4&3 win as the No. 1 seed. He recorded three birdies on his way to winning his match. Butcher and Bevins both claimed their matches with scores of 2UP and 1UP, respectively, in helping spur the Catamounts to victory. Butcher had five birdies and Bevins carded two in their respective match wins.
 
Western Carolina secured the second-round win as both Hernandez and Korytoski managed to tie their matches with the two all-square points propelling the Catamounts into the championship match.
 
Ninkovic fell in his head-to-head match with Belmont's Michael Senn, 5&4, despite a trio of birdies in WCU's lone defeat of the semifinal round.
 
Western Carolina returns to action in mid-April in the penultimate event of the season, traveling to the Catawba County Country Club in Hickory, N.C., for the Wofford Intercollegiate. The 54-hole event will be contested over two days with 36 holes on Monday, April 15, with the final round scheduled for Tuesday, April 16.
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount men's golf and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountMGolf).
 

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Championship Match (9 Holes): Western Carolina def. High Point, 4-2
Gregor Meyer (HPU) def. Magnus Pedersen (WCU), 1UP
Ivan Ninkovic (WCU) def. Grady Newton (HPU), 1UP
Pablo Hernandez (WCU) def. Jay Smith (HPU), 1UP
Jace Butcher (WCU) def. Fred Roberts IV (HPU), 1UP
Andrew Korytoski (WCU) def. Charlie Barr (HPU), 3UP
Miller Carr (HPU) def. Michael Bevins (WCU), 4UP
 
Semifinal Match: Western Carolina def. Belmont, 4-2
Magnus Pedersen (WCU) def. Jack Schoenberger (BEL), 4&3
Michael Senn (BEL) def. Ivan Ninkovic (WCU), 5&4
Pablo Hernandez (WCU) and Reeve Felner (BEL), AS
Jace Butcher (WCU) def. Conner Brown (BEL), 2UP
Andrew Korytoski (WCU) and Jack Darke (BEL), AS
Michael Bevins (WCU) def. Joe Bultman (BEL), 1UP
 
Quarterfinal Match: Western Carolina def. Bowling Green, 4.5-1.5
Magnus Pedersen (WCU) def. Darin Hudak (BGSU), 2&1
Ivan Ninkovic (WCU) def. Tom Bell (BGSU), 1UP
Pablo Hernandez (WCU) def. Ethan Irvine (BGSU), 3&2
Jace Butcher (WCU) and Dylan Fitchet (BGSU), AS
Brandon Rattray (BGSU) def. Andrew Korytoski (WCU), 3&2
Michael Bevins (WCU) def. Brady Pavarnik (BGSU), 1UP